You Lead and I'll Follow
by prothalla
Summary: Tony accompanies Carol to a gala event held by Carol's mother. Secrets are told, drama ensues, smut occurs.. you know the usual day in the life of tony and carol
1. Chapter 1

Carol slowly opened the office door. Tony was sitting at his desk with his back to her, completely unaware that Carol had entered the small room. She took the rare moment to examine him in his element. There was an air of peace about him whenever he was surrounded by books and papers.

"Are you going to stand there all day, or do you plan on coming in Carol?"

Turning around Tony smiled. He liked being able to surprise Carol, it always showed a side of her that he knew she hid because of her role of a police officer.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit Carol?" Taking a seat on the edge of Tony's desk Carol fiddled with the piece of paper she had crumpled in her hands.

"Can't one friend visit another friend without an underlying reason for doing so?"

"Carol...?"

With a sigh Carol handed him the piece of paper, chewing the inside of her cheek as he read it.

"This is an invite to gala at the London Country Club...for this weekend, Carol why are you showing me this?"

"You remember me telling you about my mother and her incessant need for charity events? Well this is one of them, and I've been informed that if I don't show my face I'll be punished with a method worse of death.... a week locked in a small room with nothing and nobody other than my mother, aunts and grandmother. Tony I know you hate these things, I hate them too but I need a favour. I need you to come with me to this gala...please."

If there was anything he was unable to resist it was the look of begging on Carol's face.

"Carol you know I don't do well in these situations, I say things that I shouldn't I'm a complete social disaster... trust me you don't want me there."

"Of course I do Tony, If I didn't want you there I wouldn't ask... please Tony, just think of it as a chance to examine a bunch of socialites stroke each others ego's. I'm sure you could make some sort of psychological paper out of it."

With a sigh Tony moved to stand directly in front of Carol.

"Fine I'll go with you, but I make no promises not to say something completely inappropriate."

With that Carol jumped up from the desk and went to the door "Thank you so much Tony, you're a lifesaver. Just swing by my place at 4... Oh and the dress is formal."

Before he had a chance to muster a reply Carol and closed the door and her footsteps could be heard from down the hall. Turning back to his desk Tony shook his head. What had he just gotten himself into?

At exactly 3:58pm that Saturday Tony knocked on Carol's door. It didn't take long for the door to swing open and Tony was left speechless by the vision before him. The dress that Carol wore did nothing to hide the fact that she was all woman. It was midnight blue which made her hair shine, low cut in the front and back, and was short, very short. Tony had never seen her look so incredible, nor had he seen so much of her skin.

"Ah... Carol you look...well...you look..." Noting Tony's embarrassment Carol broke into a grin.

"Thanks Tony, you don't look half bad yourself. Come on in, I'll be ready in just a minute."

Following Carol into the apartment, Tony berated himself for being such a bumbling idiot. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen Carol in a dress before, mind you that dress hadn't been so revealing. Looking up he noticed Carol struggling with the clasp of her necklace. Walking up to her he pushed her hands aside taking the delicate jewellery and fastening it himself. Carol turned around bring her faces mere millimetres from Tony's.

"Thanks Tony".

"You're welcome. Should we go?"

Reaching behind her Carol grabbed her purse and keys. Brushing past Tony she grabbed her shoes and padded to the door barefoot.

"Ready when you are Doctor Hill."

The drive to the country club was done in relative silence. The pair had known each other long enough that they did not feel the need to fill the air with meaningless conversation. Pulling up to the valet entrance of the club, Carol reached down and slipped on her heels which had been resting under Tony's feet. Getting out of the car Tony opened the door for Carol. She would never admit it, but Carol loved the chivalrous side of Tony. Although not displayed frequently, Carol knew that Tony when given the opportunity could muster up more charm than the Prince of Wales himself. Walking into the grand hall, Carol instinctively clung tighter to Tony's arm. No matter how many times she attended these events, she always felt as if she were walking in front of firing squad. Sensing her tense Tony moved his arm so that his hand sat in the hollow of Carol's back. It was a move that he would not normally allow himself, but the warmth he felt from her skin, was more than enough incentive for him to keep his hand there.

Within seconds of the pair grabbing a glass of champagne Carol could hear her name being called. Turning to where the voice was coming from she could see her mother making her way through the crowd of guests.

"Sweetheart I'm so glad you could make it." Tony looked on as the women embraced. He had only met Carol's mother once before just after the accident which had left Carol in the hospital.

"Mum, you remember Tony?"

The older woman pulled Tony into a hug "Of course I remember Tony Carol, I may be old, but I'm not senile yet."

"It's good to see you again Mrs Jordan"

"Now Tony I told you when we met to call me Marie, all this Mrs Jordan stuff makes me feel old and wrinkly" Placing a well manicured hand around both her daughter and Tony's shoulders Marie led the couple through the crowd towards a table in the front of the hall. "This is where you'll be sitting, with your father and I....I hope that's ok, I know it's not what you would call ideal, but we rarely ever get to see you sweetheart so we wanted to use the opportunity as a way to catch up."

"Its fine mum, where is dad anyway?" Carol looked around the room in search of her fathers' tall frame.

"Where do you think your father is? He's in the back room with the other men, smoking cigars and drinking whiskey" hearing her name being called Marie turned and walked away.

Carol turned to Tony and smiled. "So, should we go see the old man before we get cornered by the pack of women headed our way?"

Grabbing her hand with a childish grin "You lead and I'll follow Carol"


	2. Chapter 2

Walking into the smoking room Carol immediately spotted her father. He wasn't an easy person to miss with his six-foot-four-inch frame. Growing up Carol had always been envious of the control that her fathers presence had in a room. Max Jordan was a Police Officer for almost 30years before a heart attack sidelined him to working as a training officer at the Police Academy. Carol weaved her way through the smoke filled room, hand tightly grasped in Tony's. Sneaking up behind her father Carol leant forward and whispered into his ear.

"Hi Dad"

The two embraced tightly, their relationship had always been close, strengthened when Carol had also joined the Police Force.

"Hiya kid"

Pulling back Max took in his daughter's appearance. "Geez Kid, I think you forgot some of your dress before you walked out of the door"

"Daaad" Carol turned to face Tony and grinned.

"Tony this is my father Max Jordan... dad this is my....this is Tony"

No matter how many times she introduced him Carol was still not sure as to what label she should put on their relationship. Friend, partner, collegue; the line was more than blurred with all of those categories. Carol moved back to stand beside Tony as the men shook hands.

"So Tony, how hard did my daughter twist your arm to get you to come to this thing?"

The older man offered a knowing grin as Tony glanced sideways at Carol. "I wouldn't say twisted sir; I think grabbed and dragged would be a better explanation"

The men's laughter was cut short when Carol punched them both in the arms. "If you two are going to make fun of me I'll go find the women and have them come in here and teach you a lesson." Of course the laughter stopped immediately.

"So dad what's the deal with this one? Animal, mineral or vegetable?"

"From what your mother told me this event is in honour of the Women's Society's Cancer fund...or something like that, last week it was fibromyalgia, the week before diabetes... every week it's something new, after a while they all kind of mingle in together. Speaking of your mother where is she? I haven't seen her since Patty Lamely dragged her off complaining about a disaster with the table lining or something dramatic like that."

"Last we saw she was off to mingle with the booster club"

After a further ten minutes of frivolous chatter the bells rang signalling that dinner was about to be served. The conversation around that table centred on local events, gossip about who said what about whom, and about what the latest stock market figures were doing. Carol and Tony had never felt more out of place than what they did at that very moment. They offered simple opinions keeping the chatter flowing, but not offering any real insights to what colour looked best in the dining room. It was after the clearing of the plates that the women mentioned earlier Patty Lamely turned the conversation to the couple.

"So I'm ever so curious as to how the both of you met?"

The pair glanced at each other and winced, the memories of the first time they met where filled with pain and embarrassment. However they knew they would have to offer and answer in order for the women to be satisfied.

"We met at work" Carol offered the short response, hoping that from the tone she used the older woman would not ask any further questions. Unfortunately she hoped in vain.

"Oh how sweet an office romance." Clearly the woman had no idea what the pair did for a living. "So tell me, exactly what happened... what it a chance meeting at the water cooler, like they have in the movies"

Sensing him tense beside her Carol reached her hand under the table and grasped Tony's thigh. It had been a silent agreement between them years ago to not talk about the few weeks in which their first meetings took place, but it was clearly time to say something that would get the subject changed." Leaving her hand on Tony's thigh Carol turned to Patty.

"Actually Mrs Lamely, Tony and I met over a case. You see I'm a senior detective at Bradfield CID, and Tony's a psychologist. I contacted him after we found the fourth victim of a serial killer who liked to castrate and burn men because he wasn't allowed to have a sex-change operation to turn him into a woman. I asked Tony to offer his expertise to help steer our investigation in the right direction." As soon as she had said the word castration the table fell silent, no-one knowing what to say to Carol's outburst. Within minutes the man sitting to Carol's left broke the tension.

"So did anyone catch the Chelsea V United game the other night?"

The talk of football and who was a better player continued but with Carol not uttering another word. A slight nudge with his knee brought her attention back to Tony.

"You okay?"

Carol grabbed her wine glass in one hand, Tony's hand in the other and led him away from the table to the patio on the side of the room.

"Carol?"

"Sorry Tony... I didn't mean to say that, I just.... well I don't know why I did it to be honest" Tony wrapped his arm around Carol's shoulder, offering his silent support.

Ten minutes later they headed back towards the table, overhearing the last strings of conversation. "Really Marie, I thought after all this time away she would have learned some sort of social skills. Clearly she's just as troubled now as she was before, if not more so. I don't know how you can stand it."

Max cleared his throat signalling to the table of his daughters return. Standing he pulled out Carols chair and waited until she was seated before returning to his own seat. "So Tony tell me are you a football or cricket man?" Tony answered, all the while curious as to what the other woman meant when she referred to Carol being 'troubled' in the past.


End file.
